Timmy plays the same role in everything, it would be interesting to see how he plays roles as he gets older and is not the moody, brooding, 20-something sex symbol that his team has marketed him as. But I mean they've done a good job as this TikTok generation is all about the shiny image on the outside with very little depth. He's attractive in this and for what it was did a good job, I found him likable and sympathetic and charming. Again he plays a bi-sexual character (I think) and the audience is teased and gaslighted again as he's only dated women in public in his real life and has never flirted with a man publicly, but does it in all these movies because it's "cool" (when it's pretend) while real lgbtq people don't live these pretty lives with beautiful straight acting men like Timmy wanting to charm us. The movie is a fantasy. I would like to see real representation one day. And I had a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth because I couldn't tell for sure if he was actually bi-sexual or just using a closeted man to take advantage of him. So that character plot point was a miss for me as it was brief and never discussed again in the film. Also his tears towards the end felt feigned, didn't seem like they were natural.
I didn't think he and the actress had any chemistry, didn't buy their love story, she's kind of bland and one note with zero charisma. Her vibe was as if she had taken a Benadryl everyday while shooting this film, she was half asleep the entire movie. I liked a lot of the small supporting actors and their naturalness, the cinematography was beautiful as were the scenic locations and the 80's nostalgia. Mark Rylance was very good in this and a great villain because you never really know if he's a villain until the story progresses, he just always irks you the wrong way but he's so good slowly revealing himself. I've heard people say he's "the greatest" living male actor, and I don't think that's true. If anything he's proof you can be well regarded by playing yourself because I always see him in all his roles, I know it's Mark. Even when he's really good. Or maybe great acting really isn't about "losing yourself" but finding yourself, interesting thing to think about.
Bottom line the movie has its grotesque moments and it has its pretty ambient atmosphere but I found it to be a one time watch for me. It's pretty forgettable as it doesn't really leave you with anything. I just walked away with feeling, okay.
